The overall objective of the proposed program of research is to develop and test a nursing model for preparatory and supportive care for MI patients and their families. The model will be an extension and elaboration of a model which has been demonstrated to have stress-reducing effects in previous clinical experiments. The intent of the model will be to provide comprehensive care designed to help MI patients and their families cope with and adjust to the various stresses associated with hospitalization for MI and the early stages of rehabilitation following discharge. The research program will consist of three studies. Study I will focus on the individual patient during the acute in-hospital phase of the illness. Study II will concentrate on the posthospital phase during the first 6 months of rehabilitation. Study III will focus on the patient's family throughout the acute and early stages of rehabilitation. Each of the studies will be divided into two major phases. The first phase will consist of a descriptive and correlational studies for the purpose of determining typical stress and stress-response trajectories for patients and families during the course of illness. Data will also be obtained on a large number of variables concerning health history, demographic and personality factors, behavioral and physiological responses to stress, cardiac status and recovery, compliance with medical regimens, and psychosocial adjustment. These data will be subjected to correlational analysis in order to determine the individual and combined correlational structures among the variables. In the second phase of the studies the results from the first phase will be used to construct a model for preparatory and supportive care which will then be tested in a clinical experiment to determine the effectiveness of this type of care on a large number of measures of patient and family coping, adjustment, compliance, and recovery.